Algonquin Books Blog

In this festive season, we’re in a giving mood. And we’re giving to you with this special Christmas edition Giveaway Friday.

Here’s a chance to both give and receive The Christmas Letters, Lee Smith’s enthralling and delightful novella: Fill out the form below for a chance to win TWO COPIES — one to keep and one to share — of The Christmas Letters. It’s the perfect treat for the holidays, the ideal stocking stuffer.

Do you get annual Christmas letters from your friends and relations? Do you send out your own Christmas letters every year? Here, in a letter of her own, Lee explains how she was inspired to write this celebrated epistolary novel:

Dear Friends,

Like me, you probably get Christmas letters every year. I read every word and save every letter. Because every Christmas letter is the story of a life, and what story can be more interesting than the story of our lives? Often, it is the story of an entire family. But you also have to read between the lines with Christmas letters. Sometimes, what is not said is even more important than what is on the page.

In The Christmas Letters, I have used this familiar format to illumine the lives, hopes, dreams, and disappointments of three generations of American women. Much of the story of The Christmas Letters is also told through shared recipes. As Mary, my favorite character, says, “I feel as if I have written out my life story in recipes! The Cool Whip and mushroom soup years, the hibachi and fondue period, then the quiche and crepes phase, and now it’s these salsa years.”

I wrote this little book for the same reason I write to my friends and relatives every holiday–Christmas letters give us a chance to remember and celebrate who we are.

With warmest greetings,

Lee Smith

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2 Comments On This Post:

December 14, 201210:33 am

Sage says...

LOVE sharing a good book with a friend (or my fabulous mom). This sounds like it would be a fun one!